The great thing about breaking my shoulder was that I didn’t have to do much work. The terrible thing about breaking my shoulder is that I broke my shoulder, there was barely anything I could do, and I was relegating to cleaning dishes and basic tasks at the apothecary. Since I broke my arm by going off alone, I was also forbidden from taking a mission alone.

Martin kept grumbling about things going too fast and time constraints, which I agreed with somewhat. I didn’t know what he was actually talking about, but time was indeed going too fast.

We had already completed our nineth large scale delivery, my arm was fine now, and time just kept slipping me by. I was sure that I could beat the shit out of that jagged bear now, it had been a mistake in the first place that I got an injury.

There were many things I should have done, well… shouldn’t have. Running away from a bear was definitely a big no no, running away from something scarier than yourself in general is not advised. Another thing I should have avoided was poking a sleeping bear. Just like a human a bear gets really pissed when it gets woken up suddenly.

I should pick my targets better next time too, make sure I comprehend their strengths and weaknesses. Which is to say I need to be sure I can cave their skull in before I turn into pulp.

On the bright side… again there was no bright side. I was sure there was one out there, but I couldn’t find it. at least I was alive though… ah that’s it, found the bright side.

I moved out of the annex and the weird shit stopped happening… to me at least. Mark happened to lose several shoelaces during my tenure as his neighbour. Originally the house I got was owned by a nice old lady, but she had to move away because of the noise.

Mark was very loud, but if she had asked him, I was sure that he would have hushed. It might not have been just because of the sound, however. The entirety of the group except May and Martin decided to adopt the group uniform. This means that eight cloaked figures in masks were visiting next door on the daily.

Also, I figured something out, mother most definitely knew I had something to do with the mercenary guild and Martin. It was mainly because Martin, but even if he wore a mask, I was sure that Mr Hildegard would shit himself.

I made sure to cover myself however, SSH and me were completely separate… well friends, but that was the only connection. I was the happy soul in the brown cloak that worked at the apothecary and SSH was the happy soul that killed for a living.

In terms of how the whole broken shoulder thing didn’t give me away? I wasn’t allowed out of the apothecary. May had another bed beside me and we slept under the same roof for several weeks. I would not recommend doing so unless you are physically incapable of escape.

May is a great, wonderful person filled with whimsy. She just happens to have a little too much whimsy to be tolerable when you can’t escape. she is also far more restrained when she is doing work, her fascination with the work is also appreciated in those moments.

Listing 500 different plants and their properties so that you can compare two different flavours of grass is not a bedtime topic. Nevertheless, my time with her was enjoyable if not a little mentally draining.

Today I was doing something safe, and that was checking tomorrow’s plans. I needed to ensure that I didn’t make any bad decisions. especially since I had no fucking clue why bad shit had kept happening to me.

After I started planning, things stopped, but it delt more like I was just barely avoiding it rather than preventing it.

I looked at the piece of parchment and crossed off growing wings. I wanted to fly, there wasn’t any bad decisions on the ground, and no mother to deal with…. But if I fly, then won’t the others be jealous? I want everyone to fly together. Specifically, by everyone I meant everyone I liked, mainly May Mark and Mr Cedar, possibly Mr Hildegard, Miss shelly… the list was longer than I thought.

I should get them a gift at some point. I don’t even know when their birthdays are since commoners don’t celebrate that. Maybe at the harvest festival next year I will do something? I should add it to my plans.

Anyway, tomorrow, what was I going to do?

I was going to spend half the day picking up resources, and then it was a trip to Mr Cedar’s for a meeting. After that I was free to do something. there was a particularly tall tree I wanted to climb, but that might be too dangerous. I was going to have to settle with climbing a few roofs, it might be fun to run along them.

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That’s something to do, possibly in crypton… no not crypton. The roofs in the retirement village are all close together but I am almost certainly going to get yelled at. If it’s not to be told off it’s going to be out of sheer terror.

Maybe the annex roof? I miss the view of the sunset there… no definitely not. Eh, screw it, I will just climb that tree anyway. Climbing has never been a bad decision… except that one time… and technically that other time because it’s the reason… never mind enough thinking.

I pushed off the ground and looked up at the sky. Staring the sun was apparently a bad idea but I had never had issues with it. other than a few funny spots in my eyes there was nothing wrong with staring at the sun.

I wanted to look at the sunset, so I was going to have to do it today. Tomorrow I was going to climb the tree and then go swimming, I was not missing out on swimming for staying in a tree. The place I wanted to swim was warm at only three times a day, sunrise, mid-day and sunset. I was not getting up that early in the morning to race over, and I was not ditching a work meeting.

I deflated a little. This much effort, just to not see another ghost? Actually, no., that’s worth it.

I began walking towards Mr Cedar’s roof. He surely wouldn’t mind, and they would be able to stop any danger.

I didn’t tell them what I was doing, I just walked over and started climbing. When I finally got to the top, I saw Mark sitting there with his hand out.

“You want a hand?”

“How did you? When did you?”

“I saw you clambering up here, so I used the hatch over there.”

Mark pointed to a hatch that led inside. In all the times I had been here, I had never realised that it was there.

I got the rest of the way onto the roof, refusing to take Mark’s hand. My eyes were stuck on the hatch, just staring at it.

“Well, that would have been easier.”

“Yeah, Mathew pointed it out when I asked what to do about you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I asked him whether we should give you a hand. We both decided it would be funnier to let you climb up. I had thought you were going to use a ladder.”

“It seems that no planning is immune to bad decisions.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t really plan this did you?”

“no.”

“Thought so.”

The hatch opened and Mr Cedar popped out.

“So, what are you planning to do now that you are up here.”

“I was just going to chill and watch the sunset, but what took you so long?”

“Well before this started, we were having a nice cup of tea, I just had to go and pack that all up. Anyway, that’s a nice idea, mind if we join you?”

“It’s your roof.”

“That is true.”

Mr Cedar took a seat beside me and Mark shuffled closer.

It didn’t take long before Mary and the gaggle of four decided to check what was going on. Three people just sitting on a roof wasn’t a normal sight, even more so when it is three people in cloaks.

One of the four that I didn’t care to remember the names of called out to us.

“YOU GUYS, OKAY?”

Mark decided to answer, Me and Mr Cedar didn’t even try to stop him. I wasn’t going to waste my voice yelling a response in his steed and I was unsure about Mr Cedar’s reason.

“YEAH, WANT TO JOIN?”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

“WE’RE JUST GOING TO WATCH THE SUNSET.”

They probably didn’t need to shout. It wasn’t that far. More specifically Mark’s mouth wasn’t that far from MY ears.

The five looked at each other and had what I felt to be a decent discussion. They were talking about chores and what they had to do in the morning, none of them had reason to refuse, however.

“SURE, HOW DO YOU GET UP?”

“CAN YA FLY?”

“NO.”

“OH, IN THAT CASE THERE’S A HATCH, COME UP THROUGH THE INSIDE.”

“WHERE IS IT?”

“UP.”

A great response from Mark, so useful. It wasn’t like proper instructions would be that helpful for going into someone else house, but it might have been worth a shot.

Unfortunately for our amusement the instruction of “UP.” Was good enough and they joined us soon after.

After the five got settled on the roof there were now eight of us just sitting on Mr cedar’s roof.

“Hey, Mr cedar, is your roof going to be okay with this many people on it?”

“Well, it hasn’t collapsed yet, but that was probably a question you should have asked before they got on.

“True.”

The sky began ever so slowly turning a reddish hue and someone made a comment.

“Looks like it’s going to be a good day tomorrow.”

There were a few murmurs in response, but the rest just kept quiet and enjoyed the view. I was sure that at least one person was bored by now, but they were stuck here until the rest of us decided to leave.

May’s voice poked through the silence.

“What are you guys doing up here?”

The girl’s sudden appearance caused everyone’s head to turn.

“How did you get up here?”

“Oh, Martin just dropped me off for some reason.”

May was holding a fistful of herbs in each hand, and Martin was over to the side.

“Okay, we were just watching the sunset.”

“Can I join!”

I asked the group, I already knew the answer, but it felt nice to get them all in agreement for once.

“Yes.” “Sure.” “Fine.” “alright” “not up to me.”

Seven people, and five different answers, at least they all meant close enough to the same thing.

May plopped down next to us and joined in. she refused to let go of her herbs and I wondered whether they were a part of dinner, or a project.

I returned my eyes to the sunset as it turned ever redder.

This was nice. The many hues that covered the sky as the sweet reward of rest inched closer. Not just watching the sunset, but doing it with so many others. The warmth radiating from the group kept everyone mildly warmer as the biting cold set in.

Maybe life wasn’t so bad, just a little horror on occasion if I messed up, but life was actually pretty good.